Instructions for Reviewers
Accepting an invitation
Please respond within five working days. Decline the invitation if the topic falls outside your area of expertise, if you have a conflict of interest (recent collaboration, current institutional relationship, supervisor and student relationship, financial relationship, personal relationship) or if you cannot complete the review in three to four weeks. We encourage you to suggest alternative reviewers.
Confidentiality
All manuscripts under review are strictly confidential. Do not share, distribute or discuss the manuscript outside the review process. Do not use any content for your own work. Do not retain copies after the review has been completed.
Use of artificial intelligence
Do not upload any part of a confidential manuscript to a generative AI system (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot or any other tool) that may retain or learn from the content. AI tools may be used only for limited language editing of your own report text. Substantive analytical use of AI when producing a review is not permitted.
Evaluation criteria
- Originality.
- Scientific contribution.
- Methodological rigour.
- Structure and academic writing.
- Evidence and citation (APA 7th edition).
- Ethical compliance (funding, conflict of interest, ethics approval, consent, data availability, AI disclosure).
Decision categories
Accept
Minor revision
Major revision (revision-review)
Reject and resubmit
Reject
Writing the review
Begin your review with a brief summary of the manuscript (3–5 sentences). This helps the editor confirm that your comments are based on an accurate understanding of the work. Distinguish between comments to the author (constructive, specific, referenced to section, page and line) and confidential comments to the editor (about suitability and any ethical concerns). Use professional language that focuses on the manuscript rather than the authors. Offer actionable suggestions , even when you recommend rejection. Tell the editor if you suspect plagiarism, fabrication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, prior publication or misuse of AI tools. All communication goes through ScholarOne. Reviewers may not contact authors directly.
Recognition
Every completed review receives a personalised review certificate. With your consent, the review is logged as verified peer-review activity on your ORCID record. Reviewers are also listed in the journal’s annual acknowledgement, with no indication of which manuscripts they reviewed.
